Apparently there were massive layoffs at my old job today

"BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather" (bugeyedacura)
07/14/2014 at 21:10 • Filed to: None

Looks like I got out at just the right time. A lot of good people got let go simply because of the territories they were assigned on the last reorganization. Man, getting bought out really does destroy a company...

DISCUSSION (10)

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
07/14/2014 at 21:12

Fiat will now destroy Chrysler.

ttyymmnn > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
07/14/2014 at 21:18

Kinja'd!!!

GhostZ > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
07/14/2014 at 21:18

Depends on who is buying, but generally, if a company isn't doing spectacular (or if they are doing TOO spectacular) being bought out means 2 things: 1. The buyer is going to turn the business back to making a profit, which means cutting costs and streamlining, which means firing people who aren't absolutely necessary or are being paid more than they're worth. When a business has been drifting into the red for years and mismanaged, there's usually tons of people like this. They can then sell off outdated equipment for better equipment (or no equipment at all, sometimes they'll make the company focus on just one or two products and sell everything else off so that it can become profitable again).

Or 2. The buyer intends to eliminate the business as competition, or acquire some of its assets (key employees, materials, location) and doesn't want them to continue doing business anymore. Shareholders usually benefit from this a bit as they get paid for their shares, but employees really get the shaft.

In the 80s, commissions for brokers doing buyouts (and regulation therein) were so great, that people made fortunes off of buying small companies that had hired friends, family, and kept coworkers on for friendliness sake to the point where it was costing them too much money, then they would fire a bunch of people and turn the business to look better on paper, and then sell it off to yet another company at a huge profit. To protect their risk, they would leverage all of the assets the company owned, so even if it went down, if the physical assets were worth more than the company itself (which is true, since these companies were often in really bad financial states, and they cared more about staying in business) then it was still pure profit.

These were considered corporate raiders, or pirates, because they would come in to "boats" (businesses) that were slowly sinking, take everything and profit off of it, but most of the employees, instead of having a slow financial death under a failing company were given sudden and harsh firings. Sometimes the very reason the people were fired was because they were not qualified to get jobs anywhere else, and the previous management felt sorry/didn't want to put them at risk, so they become liabilities to the company.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
07/14/2014 at 22:03

Chrysler is the only thing working about Fiat right now lol

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > GhostZ
07/14/2014 at 22:07

In this case, it was probably a good part of the second option. The parent company was expanding their business, and picked up the company as a starter kit to get their foot in the door of the new field. Now that they've rolled the processes into their main set and internalized what they've learned, they're slowly but surely phasing out the old company. The same thing happened back in February, and then again in March, and now today.

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
07/14/2014 at 22:40

I would like to believe that isn't true but it is.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
07/14/2014 at 22:52

I really think that Chrysler is, at its core, a good company. The biggest problem is that in the past whenever a company has had a stake in Chrysler, they've tried to turn Chrysler into just a budget division. Chrysler is succeeding right now because Fiat is instead letting Chrysler BE Chrysler. Not in the bull-headed money wasting way, but they're building cars that are true to the brands and their essence.

And that's why they're winning.

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
07/14/2014 at 22:55

Yeah the new 200 is great. Dodge is getting an AWD Dart and a bunch of kittens. Jeep is getting a Panda (I would rather just have a Panda by Fiat.) And ram is getting the promaster. I think FCA is doing better than GM IMO.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
07/14/2014 at 23:11

Oh yeah, most definitely. And here's hoping we get a small SRT Jeep, either that Panda or the Renegade.

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
07/15/2014 at 10:01

I would love a SRT Renegade or Abarth Panda.